Re-Locatable Habitat Unit (RHU)

Re-Locatable Habitat Unit (RHU)

The Relocatable Habitat Unit or RHU is a mobile modular structure that allow for training in multiple environments without the hassle of building permanent structures. One building can be erected by two individuals in as little time as one hour. With the ease of reconfigurability, the RHU can be changed to prevent the training audience from “gaming the game” during training events.

Features of the RHU

Modular

The ultimate in modularity, the Patented RHU is based on a 4’ x 8’ composite material panel system that is lightweight (less than 100 pounds), and engineered to assemble into multi-story, complex configurations with only one tool. The RHU panel is constructed with pultruded fiberglass reinforced plastic beams, bonded with expanded polystyrene foam panels (2 lb per cubic foot density) that are laser cut to replicate the look and texture of various building materials like brick, cinder block, adobe, mud, wood, bamboo, straw, thatch, etc., sprayed with one-eighth inch of a fire retardant hardcoat, then covered with a liquid stucco product, and then “sceniced” (a movie industry term that means “aged” to look weathered). Materials and construction provide all-weather, long-lasting, fire-retardant structures suitable for year-round military training in all environments. Any interior or exterior panel can be interchanged. Any amenities (common items like windows, doors, stairs, etc.) can be attached or installed to the RHU structure. Any panel can contain a door or window of any specification. Additionally, a variation of these modular panels can also be used to clad other structures, such as shipping containers, wooden temporary structures, or permanent buildings.

Scalable

The RHU panel system is the ultimate in scalability, as it can be configured in an infinite array of floor plans, between the 96 sq ft single-story (16 panels) and multi-story with hundreds of panels. RHUs can be connected and assembled in a variety of configurations: side-to-side, back-to-back, offset, stacked, or in any combination of ways. RHUs can potentially be combined with other technologies.

Reconfigurable

The ultimate in reconfigurable, all panels can be removed and replaced with any other panel in infinite combinations. Any panel can have a door or window installed. Two or more joined panels can be assembled and cut out for roll up doors.

Relocatable

The RHU is relocatable without using major, expensive, heavy-duty construction equipment.

Low Life Cycle Costs

RHUs are designed to be re-configurable and moveable. Compared to other alternatives like shipping containers and modular housing, if you add into the acquisition price the cost of moving or re-configuring – just once – to each alternative, life cycle costs of the RHUs are dramatically lower.

Non-permanent

The RHU does not require MILCON, and is the only training structure allowed by the Bureau of Land Management to be placed on their land at Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Center, Bridgeport, Calif. Because it is non-permanent (not even shipping containers are allowed).

Deployable

4’ X 8’ RHU panels are stackable and palletized and designed for truck, rail, sea, and air transportability. RHUs are so versatile that it is the only technology that can be deployed (off-road) to the remote mountain locations at Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Center above 8,000 feet in elevation, accessible only with four-wheel drive vehicles, and in the mountains above Ft Irwin, accessible only by helicopter. We can even provide an optional enclosed RHU storage unit that doubles as a towable, off-road transportation unit.

No Foundations Required

The RHU is lighter than any other technology (approximately 18 lbs per sq ft of floor space versus 26-31 lbs per sq ft for 20-ft and 40-ft shipping containers, and 36-42 lbs per sq ft for traditional modular technologies). RHUs do not require building or structural foundations and piers for stability and support.

Easily Replicate any Current Operating Environment (COE)

RHUs can replicate any current operating environment (COE) in the world, allowing for Hyper-RealisticTM training. The RHU is designed by movie-industry professionals and military tacticians to faithfully replicate any area of the world in look, construction material, and type, offering a wide array of textures and appearances. The design and configurations of the RHUs are based on the knowledge of military tactics, techniques, and procedures, Security and Stability Operations, Basic Urban Skills Training, and Close Quarters Battle principles, and the experience of the designers in providing training support to more than 450,000 Soldiers, Marines, Sailors, and Coast Guard personnel. For military training exercises, we have replicated structures, environment, signage, and set decoration from many geographic areas of the world, including Iraq, Afghanistan, Southeast Asia, and Africa.

Designed for Hyper-RealisticTM Training

The RHU is designed by the creators of Hyper-RealisticTM training environments who have provided pre-deployment training support to more than 450,000 Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, and Coast Guard personnel since 2002. Shipping containers are 8 feet wide and either 10, 20 or 40 feet long – unrealistically small to be tactically challenging. RHUs can be assembled in complex, tactically challenging configurations.

Rapid Reset

The RHU can be set up, disassembled, and relocated with considerably less time, tools, equipment, expense, and need for skilled labor than any other technology. Wall panels weigh less than 100 lbs and connect with one simple tool (a 9mm hex wrench). RHUs can be assembled in approximately one (1) man-hour per one-hundred (100) square feet, i.e. a 1,200 square foot building can be assembled in twelve man-hours, or in three hours by a 4-man crew.

Rapidly Reconfigurable Interiors

The RHU floor and roof panels are also 4’ x 8’ and have Roto-Locking mechanisms that allow interior wall panels (as well as support beams, as necessary) to be placed on any side of these panels, creating a wide variety of changeable room configurations.

Durable, Low Maintenance

The RHU is designed with structures and materials that are durable, require low levels of maintenance, and are easily repairable, as operational experience in desert and cold mountain environments confirms. Military units have used MILES and SESAMS with the RHU. A simple repair kit provides quick, easy patching of composite materials.

Being almost entirely composite, RHUs are RF transparent, unlike shipping containers. Cameras, sensors, transmitters, receivers, projectors, etc. can be incorporated into structures and set decoration to be hidden or disguised.

Can be Delivered Palletized

RHUs can be delivered palletized. Complete single-story units have been delivered to the National Training Center at Ft Irwin with a special RHU pallet sling that allowed them to be picked up and flown to mountain top locations otherwise inaccessible.